Artillery shells comprising two sections connected together have been known for many years. The advantage of constructing an artillery shell having two sections is that the artillery shell can be adapted for different mission requirements. For instance, one of the sections can comprise a conventional warhead and the other of the sections can comprise a rocket motor. After the connection of the sections, the artillery shell can be conventionally loaded in the breech of a field piece and fired.
The aforementioned known artillery shells have complementary coupling members attached to the ends of their sections. Known complementary coupling members have included an externally threaded male member attached to one of the sections and an internally threaded female member located in the other of the sections to produce a conventional threaded spigot joint between the sections. Torsional and axial loads between the sections are absorbed by pins extending through the sections and the male and the female members.
The disadvantage of the connection as described hereinabove, is that once the pins are set in place the sections of the artillery shell can not be disconnected. Thus, once the artillery shell is assembled, it can not be disassembled should mission requirements change. Additionally, when one of the sections is a rocket motor, it is often desirable to periodically inspect the rocket motor. This cannot be easily done if the rocket can not be disconnected from the war head.
In accordance with the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide an artillery shell comprising two sections having complementary coupling members which can be engaged to connect the sections of the artillery shell into an abutting relationship and disconnected to permit the sections to be changed or inspected.